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OMIGAWD ! HERE HE COMES AGAIN ! by J. Peter Hvidsten The last time I wrote in this column I talked about my image change, in particular getting rid of my glasses and looking at the world through contac enses. Since then I have had numerous. experiences, some good...some bad, but quickly I am becoming an 2 expert lense user. Lon 8 If I had been double jointed this morning, I would have kicked myself in the rear for the dumb... feeble witted....stupid stunt I pulled off without a flaw. I dumped my contac lenses down the drain. Yup! That's right....down the drain! Now you might be thinking, "How could a Snes latvely intelligent man do a dumb thing like i." Funny you should think that, 'cause that's exactly what 1 was thinking....only difference was I didn't give myself credit for intelligence. Using contac lenses is not a simple matter of 2: putting them in each morning, taking them out each # night and setting them on the bedside table...like When they are taken out at night, first you have to wash them with a special detergent, then rinse them off with washing solution, and then store them in a container, one marked L (left), the other marked R (right), in a soaking solution. Doesn't sound too hard, does it? Even I should be able to handle that! One ev shortly after I w m contacs, I a phe put oon Waring % the left and one to the right, and washed them. After the wash, the rinsing solution was taken out the Then I went back to rinse my lenses! But they weren't there. ' Panic!!! They were in the kleenex which I had just washed thé floor with, crumpled into a little ball and now garbage. Panic again!!!! Carefully I opened the kleenex. Thinking back, I don't know why I was so careful, after ev waited in its mutilated state for disposal in the - decided it-was time to change the soaking solution, so I picked up the container, went to the sink and dumped them. That's right, the lenses were still in the old solution, Because I was wearing my glasses at the time, it did not register until after I had washed out the 'container, dried it and then prepared to put the lenses j: in my eyes. It was then that I went into a state of shock. -I'stood there....looking at the sink....not sure what to do, and hoping they weren't where I knew they were. we A closer look revealed one of the lenses on the lip of the drain, * Carefully I placed my index finger and thumb on the sides of the lenses and....plop....down the drain it went. : You wouldn't believe the words I called myself in the next few moments. Trying not to panic I sat on the edge of the toilet and thought. Thinking is not one of my better abcomplish- ments, but then neither was dumping contac lenses down the drain. } Then it struck me. The drain. Under the sink I went and sure enough there was a plug. Running downstairs I grabbed my tool kit....ran back and proceeded to remove the plug. Then another thought entered my head. That's not bad...two good thoughts first thing in the morning. I needed a bowl and something for. the lenses to fall into. Ran to the kitchen, grabbed a bowl and a teatowel. Back to the bathroom and under the sink. Placed the bowl under the drain, towel over the bowl, and proceeded to remove the plug. When the plug let loose, so did a lot of water and crap that had accumulated in the drain over the years. A close inspection of the teatowel revealed no I knew that at least one of them had to be there, since I personally pushed it down the drain with my own fumbling fingers, so I slid out from under the sink and ran a little water. y Back under the sink I crawled....and there it was, lying in the muck and hair and sludge that had come out of the drain. : ¢ But there was only one, \ I slithered back from under the sink again, and ran some more water. It had to be there I figured. down again I went to the darkness and jumble of if ; g i . You talk about staring me happy. figured I had just accomplished an impossible feat. = have a lot for which to be grateful. discover, too, that we have a lot of serious changes fo © face but change Is only painful for those whd are ¢ afraid to look Into the future with confidence. An Taking inventory The boating season on Lake Scugog has Just begun, and already we've had one life fost and another such tragedy narrowly avoided only by the quick action of two local people. ol Even more than automobile safety, safe procedures in a boat Is a matter of basic common sense. Most everyone can understand the simple fact that accidentally falling overboard at a time when no one else Is boating in the area tan be fatal. Boating safety has also been emphasized more than ever.on television and in the media, and police have taken to boats In Increasing numbers to enforce safety regulations on Ontarlo's rivers and lakes. Perhaps the saddest part of most boating fatalities Is the ease in which they could have been avoided. A simple matter of wearing a lifejacket is perhaps the single most effective means of avolding disaster, yet a surprising number of people simply don't follow that rule. A couple of weeks ago, for example, rescuers fished - a near-exhausted fisherman from the icy lake. The life jacket was In the half-submerged craft the man was hanging on to. In this particular case, the drenched boater was wearing hip boots at the time. Some people dont ask for trouble, it seems, they g beg for it. : ~ This week we hear of another mishap on the lake, this time with a tragic ending. i When the boat was found drifting on Lake Scugog early last week, according to police, a life jacket was i! laying inside. To those who will take to the lake this year, perhaps with family and friends, we urge: 'Have fun....but take care. Water safety The taxi driver was angry. All day, he said as he bucked his way through the traffic, he'd heard nothing but Quebec separation.and inflation, crime and high unemployment, baby seals and lousy weather. He agreed that all of these were problems we must try to solve, except perhaps the lousy weather, but was there nothing that Canada could be proud of, he wondered? The list of problems facing a nation as large and as complex as Canada, with its emphasis on multi-culturalism, its diverse backgrounds and its two founding peoples, Is staggering. And to those of us who still think that pride in a nation Is not something to be embarrassed -about there seems, on the surface at least, not much to cheer about. Certainly, to pretend that all is rosy Is almost as unrealistic as to prate about Canada's Imminenf & demise. Perhaps it Is time for the leaders of this country and Its citizens to pause for 24 hours -- if we can take that long for such an Important exercise -- and together take an honest and realistic inventory of where and what we are. An honest inventory looks openly at the debit and the credit side of the ledger. © An honest Inventory faces problems squarely, but at the same time takes cognizance of our virtues as . i well. We're pretty sure that the results would be more heartening than we think. We would discover that we We would inventory, we are convinced, would show us our assets -- not simply material assets -- and our © liabilities --'not merely our economic liabilities -- and © we are convinced the former would outweigh the latter. There Is much to be thankful for, and much to be concerned about but If we allow our gratitude to outweight our apprehension then with our leaders we can begin fo see a future that may be different from what we have known in the past, but one which we can face with assurance. It all comes down to gratitude for the blessings we have.